Alfresco's buffet dishes up Italian food —— and fast

GARY WARTH - Staff Writer

Diners in a hurry and with a taste for pizza, pasta, salad and
chocolate-covered fruit may have found a favorite new restaurant in
San Marcos.

Alfresco's Italian Buffet in San Marcos opened early this year
in the mall anchored by Wal-Mart, Kohl's and Guitar Center, just
off Nordahl Road north of Highway 78. The restaurant replaces
another buffet restaurant, but little inside looks the same.

The Lees are from Korea, and Kyle was an importer in Los Angeles
before moving to San Marcos to open Alfresco's with his uncle, who
has owned Katsu Seafood and Steakhouse in Restaurant Row for seven
years.

So what do two Koreans know about Italian food? Enough to hire
chef Marco Galliano to create their menu.

"It's all authentic cuisine from home towns in Italy," said
Galliano. "I don't just cook one region, but my cuisine is mostly
Tuscany and Sicily."

Galliano is from Marsella, Sicily. In 30 years he has been the
first chef at a string of San Diego restaurants, including
Arrivederci in Hillcrest and Trattoria I Trulli in Encinitas. He
probably is best known for his own restaurant, DiMarco's in Scripps
Ranch, which he operated from 1995 to 1998.

Lee said his uncle first got the idea to open a custom pizza
buffet while living in Atlanta, where he noticed pizzerias were
booming. He instead opened Katsu in San Marcos, which serves
Japanese cuisine, and later evolved his original vision with the
full Italian buffet at Alfresco's.

The restaurant is large, holding 350 seats, has plenty of elbow
room at two spacious food stations. Anchored in the center of the
restaurant, a station topped with a brown speckled granite counter
is devoted to salads and desserts.

Lee said customers have said Alfresco's salad bar beats chain
restaurants that specialize in soups and salads. The selection
indeed is large and includes cozze salad with mussels and shrimp,
caprese salad, seafood salad, chicken salad and antipasto.

Servers behind the counter scoop out eight flavors of ice cream
and dip various fruit into a flowing multitiered chocolate
fountain. Diners can help themselves to various chocolate desserts
or slices of fresh fruit. In the evening, the expanded dessert menu
includes cheesecake.